John Fitzgerald
With the dust now settled on most rugby league competitions in 2025, many clubs would be reflecting on their performances, and with an eye on next year, what can be done to improve their teams for 2026.
The most eastern outpost of the combined Group 10/11 Peter McDonald Cup competition, Lithgow Workies Wolves have struggled over the last few years, and the club is looking to regain its status as one of the stronger sides and begin performing to a higher standard once again.
As a part of its bid to return to the finals, the club has appointed a new coach, with Kyle Willmott set to lead the club’s first grade side through the 2026 season.
Willmott, a local who has played at clubs including Lithgow Bears, Portland and Wallerawang, returns to the Wolves as mentor for the second time after previously co-coaching the team alongside Jack Sullivan in 2023.
In a statement published to the club’s socials following the signing, the Wolves expressed excitement surrounding the signing.
“We’re thrilled to have Kyle leading the first-grade team in 2026, where we know he will build on our club’s legacy and foster a positive, competitive environment for our players,” the statement read.
“Kyle is not just a coach; he is a long-standing member of our club whose journey has woven deeply into the fabric of our team.
“Kyle’s experience on the field is invaluable, and his understanding of the game is matched only by his passion for our club.”
Representing a population of 21,000, the Workies Wolves are the closest Central West club to Sydney’s sprawling west.
In the doldrums since the inception of the combined premiership four years ago, the club needs support to get it up and going to a level where it can compete with the far western clubs which have dominated the new competition.
Group 11 clubs Dubbo and Forbes separately have won three of the merged-Group premierships, and Group 10’s Mudgee Dragons won in 2024.
In reserve grade, far western clubs also have performed best, Nyngan and Dubbo clubs winning three of the four competitions played.
The players from these towns’ lower-grade teams which have performed so well, will filter through and improve their top grades in the next few years.
Clubs like Dubbo CYMS, Forbes and Parkes, with strong reserve and under-18s sides, look to have their immediate futures well in hand also.
However, Lithgow, 250 kilometres to the east, have for many years found it difficult to compete at the top end of the competition and, for the health of the Workies Wolves club, the city – and the competition at large – a well-performing rugby league team is needed.
In recent years, propped up by former Midwest Cup players from Blackheath, Portland and Kandos, the Wolves have struggled without a star leader.
While the individual players tried to the best of their abilities and never shied from the hard work, the Workies club’s first grade side has struggled for wins which have been few and far between.
The proximity of Lithgow to western Sydney could be the catalyst for the recruitment of players from the burgeoning Cumberland Plains competitions of the Penrith Junior League A-Grade competition, but with low resources, Lithgow Workies Wolves may have to look inward to bolster the club’s top-grade side.
The club’s reserve grade side finished third last this season, three points from the bottom of the ladder, and were second last in 2024.
However the under-18s from Lithgow are the shining light, grand finalist in 2024 and beaten finalist in 2025.
They have performed creditably at the top end of their competition over the last three years, and some players have already made their way into the first grade side.
Some of the under-18s were promoted for the recent 2025 season, and the first grade team has improved with their inclusion, with some closer results this past year than previously. There was only one blowout result but the closer scores indicated improvement.
There were seven games where the top side was beaten by eight points or less but there were also four where 30 points or more were scored against them.
But over the entire season the results were better than the last couple of years.
Unfortunately the Wolves lost a player from the group of under 18s who could have played a pivotal role in the club’s future.
Halfback Eli Morris, a gifted footballer who stood out in the under-18s competition in 2022 and 2023, showed he was up to the task when promoted to the firsts in 2024.
But he couldn’t do it all on his own, and then this player that the club could have built a competitive team around was scouted and signed by the Mebourne Storm NRL club before the start of the 2025 season.
Still only 19, he was this year a part of the Storm’s premiership-winning Jersey Flegg side.
Losing this player meant the club had to fall back on those who had previously valiantly represented the club.
After Morris’s loss to the Storm at the end of 2024, the club’s contacts in New Zealand found a replacement for the 2025 season in Kadiyau Ioka who would help tie the forwards to the backs, and the club put in some pretty good performances in games under his control this past season.
There was only the one blowout result this past year against the Wolves but the handful of closer results, more than in previous seasons, will give the club reason for optimism for the future.
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